


Pressure Makes Diamonds

by Toaverse



Series: The Normal Days [1]
Category: Onward (2020)
Genre: Gen, Normal Life, Slice of Life, Sundra centered, This most likely takes place before Onward, daily life, pre Onward
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:27:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25996738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toaverse/pseuds/Toaverse
Summary: Every creature in New Mushroomton has their own struggles and situations. That includes creatures with the least important jobs.Creatures like Sundra.
Series: The Normal Days [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1908358
Comments: 5
Kudos: 6





	Pressure Makes Diamonds

**Author's Note:**

> Since I’m longing for some normalcy again, I just wrote this fic about a minor character :D
> 
> I hope you don’t mind :)
> 
> Enjoy!

The quick sounds of cars driving by fills the driveway, as well as the hearing of creatures walking on the sidewalk.

Sundra is listening to it as she’s waiting near a bus stop for the next bus to arrive. Unfortunately for her, the previous bus drove away right in front of her, which didn’t made her day any better.

She had to deal with some pretty rude customers, including one that straight up insulted and shamed her in front of everyone. And out of all the days that this could’ve happend, it just had to be her longest shift of the week.

The 19 year old cyclops cringed at the memory of that elf woman cussing her out.

It’s not like she hasn’t dealt with rude customers before, heck, she deals with them almost at a weekly basis. But that some creatures just insult her where her co-workers and other customers are present just rubs her the wrong way. And some of such customers even being her peers.

And oh boy did they let her know that.

“Why aren’t you in collage?”

“Who the heck would want such a lame job.”

“Aren’t you too old for this?”

“Kicked out of collage or something?”

Man, that had to be one of their favorites...

Thank god that Corey let her change clothes after her shift. Because no way would she be walking home in her knight costume.

But the cyclops loves her job regardless.

Before she had even discovered The Manticore’s tarven, Sundra didn’t really know what to do after she graduated high school. And as all parents do, they (especially her mother) cheered her on to go to collage and study for a highly respected job. The then 17 year old cyclops thought about majoring in history, or even political science for a split second. But she considers both history and law as just interests she has, and doesn’t want it as her job or career.

It was when she walked a different route to her father’s house that she saw the building that is previously known as The Manticore’s tarven, recognizing it at sight. Having seen that a couple with a child where walking out of the massive door, The then 17 year old cyclops went in the building to see the inside of the building for herself.

Upon entering, she saw that the building had become a restaurant based on history itself. Having not eaten any lunch yet that day, the teenage cyclops decided to just sit somewhere and order something. When she looks around and sees how welcoming the staff are and the atmosphere itself, Sundra decided to just ask if they have a free work spot, and they did.

A job interview with Corey was arranged that took place later that week. And as hoped, Sundra got the job as a tarven employee.

And she didn’t regret it for one millisecond.

The young cyclops smiles, remembering how happy her mother was at hearing how her daughter got hired, despite being skeptical of it a few days before.

Turning her gaze to the digital bus board, Sundra that her bus arrives in about 4 minutes, much to her relief.

*ding!*

Her attention immediately turns to the sound of her just arrived notification, and grabs her phone to check who it was.

Mom: Are you off shift?

Sundra reads the message for a second time before typing her reply.

Sundra: Yup, I’m off shift. But the bus drove off before my eyes, so I had to wait 20 minutes😒

Sundra: I’ll be at dad’s place in about 5 minutes

After sending her replies, she looks at the left and right of her to see if her bus is there. Another sound of her notifications turns the cyclops right back to her phone.

Mom: good to hear. Elayne had asked me about it.

Sundra sketched a bit of a smile at the mention of her mother’s girlfriend. But that quickly gets sidelined in her mind when she sees her bus right in front of her, and quickly gets in.

Having taken a seat next to a window, she re-reads her mother’s message, but more specifically a certain name.

Elayne Specter, her mother’s most recent girlfriend who she had been dating for about a year, and who’s living with them for about 2 months.

The teenage cyclops wasn’t immediately fond of her potential future stepmother, but it isn’t like she hated her. It’s just that it kinda came out of nowhere that her mother liked woman as well, or Sundra just didn’t notice it in the years since her parents divorced. But her opinions about Specter aside, the teen made it clear from the start that she isn’t homophobic in the slightest.

Just like any (good) future stepparent, Specter tried to build a bond with her girlfriend’s daughter, and Sundra admitted that it didn’t really go anywhere for the first few months, mainly because she kept her distance. But once when she gained a bit of interest in law enforcement, Specter told her a bit about it and how they handle such things on the force. The teen gained a bit of respect for the older cyclops from that day on.

Things had been going well between the two since that day.

Turning off her phone, Sundra looks out of the window she’s sitting right next to, remembering her last send message as if it was seconds ago.

‘I’ll be at dad’s place in about 5 minutes.’

Ah yes, her father. The guy who was too lazy to find a job after refusing to go to collage and lived off of his now ex-wife’s money for as long as they had been married. As expected, it lead to a bunch of arguments that Sundra sometimes has to listen to. It was only after her mother officially divorced him that he started to work as an underpaid construction worker. 

He can consider himself lucky that his salerry is just enough to pay for rent, cheap food and electricity.

Boy, was Sundra happy that she only has to go there on Friday.

Hearing the name of her bus stop being called out, the teen cyclops pushes her thoughts aside for a moment, watching through the windows from the right of her when she sees it. When the bus brakes and stops, she stands up and makes her way out, continuing her way by walking the short route to the apartment complex.

Unlike most kids around the age of 9, Sundra wasn’t that upset at the news that her parents are gonna divorce. If anything, she rather felt relieved at hearing the fact. She had heard her parents arguing so many times, that she could already guess that they where unhappy together.

Her feelings about it didn’t change when her mother sat her down and finally told her the news of a divorce. But Sundra also knew that it would change a lot from that day on.

It was probably the best decision her mother had made.

The apartment complex comes into her view. Sundra huffs before entering the building.

Two elevators are in plain sight upon stepping in the building with no creatures waiting for one of them to open. She walks straight to one of them and pushed the elevator button. It only takes around 11 seconds of waiting before one of the doors opens before she steps in, and pushes the button that has a ‘1’ on it.

Feeling that the elevator is going up, Sundra can’t help but glare at the thought of being in that apartment again, perfectly knowing how crappy it looks from the inside.

The elevator stops and a high pitched ‘ding!’ went off before the elevator door opens. She walks out and through the empty hallway as she knows where her father’s place is, despite all the doors looking exactly the same.

The teen cyclops eventually finds it, and pulls out a spare key from her backpack, already predicting that her dad isn’t home.

She puts the key in the lock and turns it to the right, unlocking the door before pulling it out again, before turning the handle to open the door.

And she was right, her father isn’t home again. As well as the apartment looking like an unorganized mess.

Uncleaned plates and glasses are still on the small dinner table. Small boxes of pizza and Chinese takeout lay on the floor and couch. As well as a disgusting smell of the small leftovers of food.

It’s sad to say, but sometimes Sundra wished that she had stepped in the wrong apartment.

Grabbing her phone again, she quickly texts her mother like she promised.

Sundra: I’m at dad’s now.

She hits ‘send’ before tossing her phone and spare key on the dinner table as she walks right past it, tossing her backpack on the couch as well. Looking at the mess around her, she can’t help but feel the urge to clean it up.

Sundra knows that her father won’t notice how clean his apartment looks after he gets home from work, or that he doesn’t care at all. But learned young is done old, right?

Besides, she knows she isn’t a lazy slacker like her dad.

Wanting to get rid of that stench first, the teen cyclops collects all the chineese take-out and pizza boxes and put them in the small trashcan that’s in the bathroom, not wanting to walk all the way back outside to do it there. It at least makes the ground and couch more cleaner, but that stench still hangs.

Next are the uncleaned plates. She puts them in the sink and turns the tap open, before warm water fills the sink. Not being able to find any soap, Sundra just grabs the washing-up brush and washes the first plate that she grabs.

As she’s washing the plate, she feels a bit of stress melt away off her shoulders, despite having worked a long shift. Maybe it’s because of the silence.

One of her history books comes to her mind, and strongly wants to read it. But she first has to finish chores to keep it clean over here.

Hard work pays off after all.


End file.
